Meat-tenderer.



O. SUMMERPIELD.

MEAT TENDERER.

APPLIOATION FILED AUG.17, 1909.

Patented June 14,1910.

wuemboz Kil er 9 WififiW era's III OLIVER SUMMERFIELD, OF HOT SPRINGS, ARKANSAS.

MEAT-TENDERER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J one 14, 1910.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OLIVER SUMMERFIELD, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at'I-Iot Springs, in the county of Garland. and State of Arkansas, have invented new and useful Improvements in Meat-Tenderers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to meat tenderers, and one of the principal objects of the same is to provide a device for the purpose of tendering meat comprising a series of punches or pins secured to a plate and a stripper pro vided with perforations through which the pins or punches extend, means being provided for adjusting the stripper relatively to the pins for tendering meats of difierent characters and of difierent thicknesses.

Another object of the invention is to provide a meat tenderer of the character referred to having a spring-actuated stripper for forcing the pins or punches out of the meat, the tension of said spring being adj ustable by convenient means to regulate the plate and pins for diiferent characters of meat.

These and other objects may be attained by means of the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which,

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of a meat tenderer made in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral 1 designates a sheet metal plate or disk having a series of pins or punches 2 connected to one side thereof, said pins or punches being provided with oppositely beveled ends 3. Connected centrally to the plate 1 is a tube 4, the upper end 5 of which is provided with a central aperture.

A stripper plate 6, preferably formed of sheet metal and conforming in shape to the contour of the plate 1, is provided with a series of perforations 7 disposed in alinement with the pins or punches 2. A rod or stem 8 is connected centrally to the stripper 6 by means of a countersunk head 9 and a sleeve 10 surrounding the rod 8 at the upper side of the plate 6 for holding said plate down upon the head 9, said sleeve 10 being frictionally fitted to the rod 8. A tube 11 is secured at its lower end to the sleeve 10, the upper end of said tube 11 being open, and said tube being fitted within the tube 4 frictionally.

The upper end of the rod 8 extends through a hole in the top 5 of the tube 4, and a nut 12 is fitted to the threaded end of said rod 8. A spiral spring 13 surrounds the rod 8, one end of said spring bearing against the sleeve 10, while the other end bears against the inner wall of the top 5 of tube 4. A handle 14 provided with a longitudinal opening 15 therein is fitted frictionally to the tube 4 and may be readily removed for the purpose of giving access to the nut 12 for adjusting the stripper plate 6 relatively to the pins 2.

The operation of my invention may be briefly described as follows: The implement is grasped by the handle 14 and brought forcibly down upon the meat, the pins 2 serving to break the fibers of the meat and to render it tender and palatable. For certain kinds of meat and for thick pieces it is necessary that the punches or pins 2 should project through the apertures 7 in the stripper plate 6. To make the necessary adjustment, the handle 14 is withdrawn from the tube 4 and the nut 12 turned upon the rod 8 to contract the spring 13 and project the pins through the apertures 7, as will be understood. By giving access to the spring and rod 8, the parts can be readily renewed when injured or broken.

From the foregoing it will be obvious that a meat tenderer made in accordance with my invention will be strong, durable and efficient in use, can be manufactured at low cost and can be quickly repaired in case of damage requiring the renewal of the parts.

I claim In a meat tenderer, a pair of relatively movable concentrically disposed spaced disks, the upper of which is provided with a plurality of depending prongs and the lower having a plurality of openings to re ceive said prongs, a rod rising from the center of the lower disk and extending through a central opening in the upper disk and having its upper end portion screw-threaded, a bushing surrounding and fixedly secured to the lower end of the rod and extending to a point adjacent to the upper disk, a tube surrounding said bushing being frictiona-lly secured thereto and extending through the center of the upper disk to a point adjacent to the upper end of the rod, a second tube rising from the center of the upper disk and receiving the first-named tube, the second tube extending to a point considerably above the upper end of the first tube and provided at its upper end With a cap having a central opening for the reception of the upper end of said rod, a helical compression spring encircling said rod having its opposite ter- Ininals bearing on the lower face of said cap and upper end of the bushing, a nut screwed onto the threaded end of the rod and bearing on said cap, and a handle havlng an axial bore of greater depth than the portion of the second tube extending above the upper disk and of a size to snugly re- 1.

ceive the second-named tube;

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

OLIVER SUMMERFIELD. VVitnesses-z F. W. RoWLEs, J. N. STEELE. 

